Catalyst

CatalystSome Tiger fans have been frustrated with the inconsistency in the basketball and baseball programs over the past couple of seasons. Several times over the past two seasons in both sports many of us have been looking for that spark to kick start a long winning streak, only to be disappointed by a loss or string of losses.

It seems like as soon as we got a good feeling about the Tigers taking one step forward, they would disappoint us with two steps back.

Us optimists are always looking for a reason to think the next winning streak is right around the corner. We are always looking for the silver lining to give us hope that better times are ahead.

Personally I have been pretty down on the baseball and basketball programs the last two years but feel better about baseball with the addition of some talented freshmen. Still, this season has seen its share of disappointments with series losses to South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina.

However, Monday night's win at top-ranked North Carolina is the latest ray of hope. The Tar Heels were 25-1 coming into the series finale against the Tigers but Clemson gutted out a 5-4 win in extra innings.

The win moves the Tigers record to 17-11 overall and 6-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson is two games behind FSU with forty percent of the ACC season complete.

The other reason for hope is the remaining schedule. So far the Tigers have played ACC series at NC State and at North Carolina and home conference series with Duke and Virginia. State is 5-7 in the league and Duke is 6-6 but Virginia is 9-3 while North Carolina is 9-2.

Clemson has remaining home conference series with Wake Forest who is 4-8 in the league, Georgia Tech who has an 8-4 conference mark and Maryland who is 4-8.

The Tigers remaining road conference series come at Boston College who is 0-11, Miami who is 5-7 and FSU who is 8-4.

The four teams Clemson has played this season have combined for a 29-18 mark in the conference. The remaining six teams on the conference schedule are 29-42.

In the latest Collegiate Baseball poll North Carolina is ranked number one, Virginia is sixth, and NC State is 25th. So three of the four teams Clemson has faced in the conference are ranked. Of the final six teams left on the schedule, only two are ranked. Florida State is seventh and Georgia Tech is 15th.

The non-conference games get a little more manageable as well. Clemson has three games with Georgia Southern, two games with Western Carolina and Furman and single games with Presbyterian and USC-Upstate.

Again the optimist in me is looking forward to warmer weather. The hope is that that weather will bring more pop on offense. More pop on offense will hopefully lead to more runs which will lead to more wins.

The weather has forced us to be patient waiting on spring and Clemson baseball fans have been patient waiting on this talented freshman class. Hopefully big things are coming to this program in the last 28 regular season games and beyond.

Clemson has played 28 games and has 28 remaining in the regular season. My guess is that the last half of the season will yield a record that is better than the 17-11 mark of the first half.

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency

Prayer ListWe have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:

If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.

If you would like to add someone to the list please email me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com

*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list.